May 25, 2007   | COMMENTS     

Openly gay political candidates and elected officials are making noticeable strides — and in some cases making history — around the country in high-profile races.

Three of the most prominent gay and transgender political players — a San Francisco Police Commission president, a Pittsburgh City Councilmember and a Dallas mayoral candidate — took time to chat with the Blade about why they got involved and what it’s like to campaign as openly gay in major metropolitan areas today.

 
trong>THERESA SPARKS
President S.F. Police Comm.

Theresa Sparks was elected president of the San Francisco Police Commission May 10, by a vote of 4-3 over challenger Joe Marshall. She is the first transgender person in the United States to serve as a police commission president.

“I ran but I didn’t believe I would be elected,” she said. “Three are appointed by the Board of Supervisors and four by the mayor, but one crossed over and voted for me. This is also the first time there has been a non-mayoral appointee for president.”

A Vietnam veteran with three grown children, Sparks originally joined the commission as a Board of Supervisors appointee three years ago, after working as a transgender activist for many years. Her community involvement coincided with her decision to transition from male to female in 1997. She worked a variety of jobs before joining the sex toy company Good Vibrations, where she worked her way up to her current position as president.

She lobbied the city Board of Supervisors for transgender rights and health benefits starting in 1999 and founded the Transgendered Political Caucus a year later. She was appointed to the city’s Human Rights Commission by former Mayor Willie Brown in 2001 and served as co-chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, after she convinced the group to add bisexual and transgender to its name. In 2003 she was the first transgender woman to be named “Woman of the Year” by the California State Assembly in Sacramento.

Her latest first as president has not been without controversy, though. Commissioner Louise Renne, a former city attorney, originally planned to serve the remaining year of her term, but resigned from the board the day Sparks was elected.

“You have two [commissioners] who are actively running for other offices and the whole tone of the commission has become completely political in nature,” Renne told the San Francisco Examiner.

Sparks said the differences between she and Renne were about how the police department should be run and how much civilian oversight there should be.

“I’m keen on making sure crime statistics are reported to citizens on a regular basis,” she said. “[Renne] was less enthusiastic because violent crime in San Francisco is up, just like it is in every city. She was upset that violent crime is increasing as opposed to being in decline in an election year.”

Sparks said her greatest challenge is being the only transgender person on one of the most powerful commissions in the city. She said the police force has some 248 lesbian, gay and bisexual officers and two female-to-male trans officers. She said relations between the police department and transgender city residents have been strained.

“The trans community is disenfranchised in terms of housing, employment and public accommodations,” she said. “The department now needs to be more careful because they know there will be hell to pay if there are any violations. I don’t ask people in the department to understand a person who is trans, and they don’t have to like me, but they do have to do what I say.”

 
trong> Bruce Kraus
 Pittsburgh City Council

Bruce Kraus became the first openly gay Pittsburgh City Council member and the first out public official in western Pennsylvania on May 15.

Kraus ran as an independent against Jeffrey Koch, a former city Public Works Department employee who won the local Democratic Party’s endorsement. Kraus received 2,163 votes to Koch’s 1,718, though some predicted Koch had the edge going in.

“My background is in community service, not politics,” Kraus said. “So I did not get any support from traditional Democratic venues, such as unions or the Democratic Party. I ran totally independent.”

The owner of an interior design company, Kraus has been active in his community holding leadership positions in several civic groups. His progressive platform includes fiscal responsibility and quality-of-life issues such as blighted housing, public safety and city services in the economically challenged region.

“For far too long the focus has been on big-ticket items such as stadiums,” he said. “Development isn’t bad, but there needs to be ...